Regulation of work on digital platforms. State of the art and commentary on regulatory changes

Abstract

This study focuses on one of the most controversial issues in recent years within labor and social security law: platform work, which in most cases has resorted to commercial contracting, sometimes in fraudulent practice. In this sense, although the phenomenon of false self-employment is by no means a new problem, it has undoubtedly acquired greater dimensions as a result of the proliferation of this type of company. Following the momentous Supreme Court ruling 805/2020 of September 25, which established the existence of an employment relationship for platform delivery drivers, the Spanish legislator, on the one hand, approved Law 12/2021 (known as the “Rider Law”) and, on the other, established a new criminal offense (Article 311.2 of the Criminal Code) that punishes those who hire fraudulently with prison sentences. The directive 2024/2831 is also discussed, which addresses the improvement of working conditions in platform work in a much broader way than the national standard.